Shanthi The Elephant Plays Harmonica At The National Zoo

Shanti, a 36-year-old elephant at the National Zoo, has a harmonic affixed to the door of her cage so she can play the harmonica.

WASHINGTON — An elephant named Shanthi at the Smithsonian's National Zoo plays a harmonica with her trunk and appears to love doing it.

Video released Wednesday by the zoo in Washington shows the 36-year-old Asian elephant has a harmonica attached to her stall and plays tunes even when no humans are within view.

Elephant keeper Debbie Flinkman said Shanthi is "musically inclined," playing her own songs that always have a big crescendo at the end. Shanthi also likes to tap things, flap her ears against objects to make noise and rub her leg up and down shrubs to repeat noises.

"It is very good enrichment, especially for this specific elephant" because she is so interested, Flinkman said. Other elephants may notice the harmonica but are less interested.

Shanthi will play for several minutes at a time, exhaling to play a pattern, then inhaling for a different sound and moving to another end of the harmonica for a different note. Each time, she ends with a big exhale for a loud sound. After New Year's Day, she also played a plastic party horn that Flinkman brought to her for hours, blowing it as loud as she could. "It sounded like she was strangling a goose," Flinkman said.

Handheld harmonicas have been used with the elephants for years, but the zoo only recently added an activity wall where they could permanently mount two harmonicas for Shanthi to use on her own. Flinkman said she doesn't reward Shanthi when she plays on her own. It's something she enjoys.

Sometimes Shanthi will lower her ear to be closer to the sound.

"I try really hard to stay out of her line of sight because I don't want her to cue off of me," Flinkman said of Shanthi's music. "It just really amuses us. And I absolutely love it that it amuses her."

Shanthi was a gift from Sri Lanka in 1976 and is the mother of the zoo's 10-year-old calf Kandula.

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Comments

[hornedcog]

11:36 PM on 05/03/2012

I would love to see her reaction when someone plays along on another harmonica.

[Red The Grey]

08:20 PM on 05/03/2012

Humans play the harmonica in prison as well.
Poor creature. Locked in a cage

[cuoi]

06:52 PM on 05/03/2012

They are sentient beings and deserve to be treated as such. Anyone here agreeable to living in a zoo?

[MzKimi2U]

07:17 PM on 05/03/2012

Lol but that wont stop them from putting animals in zoos. I am all for leaving them in the wild where they will be free and happy.

[cuoi]

08:15 PM on 05/03/2012

You're right...for now. I like to think we will evolve and this period of time will seem quaint.

[pinkibus]

09:29 PM on 05/03/2012

If you want to keep them in the wild then you have to save the wild for them.

[pinkibus]

09:30 PM on 05/03/2012

I have lived in a zoo. In fact, everybody lives in a zoo.

[cuoi]

09:58 PM on 05/03/2012

You make a good point but living in a zoo isn;t always agreeable...

[jacmed]

01:18 PM on 05/03/2012

Absolutely wonderful! I played this video three times already. She actually does make music, not just noise. Elephants are remarkable - they are highly intelligent and I wouldn't put it past them to do just about anything that their physical makeup allows. There are a number of elephants who paint pictures and those pictures are actualy selling in galleries. The funds are used to rescue and care for abused elephants and towards preservation of endangered African and Asian elephants. Unfortunately, I can't afford any of the paintings. One rescued elephant in Burma painted what is very clearly either a self-portrait or a picture of another elephant holding a flower. I wonder if recordings of Shanthi's music could be put together and sold with the funds being used for the same purpose.

[gdkzen]

12:08 PM on 05/03/2012

Recent data tends to support the idea that elephants are not only highly intelligent, but highly emotional creatures. The recent incidents of "elephants going wild" are almost entirely within the confines of animals utilized as showpieces. These animals are subjected to incredible stresses and some of them appear to snap. Frankly, if an elephant needs to be put down because it is out of control, then the responsibility lies with the abusive practices of its handlers.

When considering their intelligence, one must consider however, the ethics of keeping such an animal in captivity. The argument in this video is that the animals are allowed to live something of a life of luxury due to food and healthcare being provided by humans. Without such stresses, these elephants are theoretically given a "stress free" life (particularly since they are not forced to perform for humans). One must ask the question, however: What would this animal choose if it were allowed to make the choice itself?

Elephants have been integrated into agrarian Asian societies for millenia, so it is quite possible that some do in fact prefer to exist within human society. In such societies, this is usually based upon a relationship of mutual respect between humans and elephants.

[one1byke]

10:51 AM on 05/03/2012

elephants are not humans.... looking to fill time... they're good.

- well, except for that dandy Ganesh.

[gdkzen]

12:12 PM on 05/03/2012

Elephants do appear to share many of the same emotional conditions as humans. Other intelligent animals (primates, dolphins) do not seem to express emotions quite so clearly as elephants (perhaps because unlike primates and dolphins, elephants are more likely to interact with humans in nature).

Humans do have an existing relationship with elephants (particularly in agrarian Asian societies) that is based upon mutual respect.

[mww1017]

09:39 AM on 05/03/2012

Very cool.

[nanaofmysky]

04:54 AM on 05/03/2012

Made me smile. Need this before heading out to work. When the boss becomes an a** I can just think of this and smile. lol

[TBro61]

10:35 PM on 05/02/2012

Now the elephant can play " I Got the Trapped in the Zoo Blues"

[LivelyLexie]

10:34 PM on 05/02/2012

She seems like a happy elephant, compared to some I've seen in zoos, just pacing (which makes me so sad). This story made me smile.

[dicktopps]

08:16 AM on 05/03/2012

I have to agree, she seemsto be happy. I have been fortunate to have done a couple of African safari's and when you see the animals roaming the plaines as intended, it is very hard to see them behind glass, bars or cages. Zoos are good some but not for me. But Shanti seems happy.

[missnoee]

08:08 PM on 05/02/2012

One of my most favorite of animals, and so talented and smart they are ! They can even
paint their likeness on canvas.

[kittenblu]

05:35 PM on 05/02/2012

Aw...thats so cute. An elephant playing the harmonica in its little jail cell....Entertaining us all. We are such wonderful stewards of the earth

[missnoee]

08:07 PM on 05/02/2012

kittenblu,
If you watch the whole tape, you would see what you said is not true.

[LivelyLexie]

10:35 PM on 05/02/2012

Sometimes animals are in captivity because they wouldn't have been able to survive in the wild for one reason or another. In this case, she was a gift. While I do agree that animals should not be taken out of the wild if uninjured or able to survive on their own, there's no reason why animals who are in captivity can't be appreciated.

[RustyCannon]

05:12 PM on 05/02/2012

I love elephants and now I have something in common with one. We both blow harp. While I admire Shanti's creativity, the poor girl will never be able to do justice to the blues without a tongue.

Hohner makes really long harmonicas that would be great for her trunk and give her a much wider range of notes, but they're very expensive.

[caveredecorator]

03:29 PM on 05/02/2012

that was great. elephants are amazing. san diego zoo has an elephant web cam.